


Stone On Fire

by carissima



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Everyone else is in a band, Fluff, Harry's a popstar, Liam is a fireman, M/M, Prompt Fill, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-08
Updated: 2013-11-08
Packaged: 2017-12-31 21:37:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1036659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carissima/pseuds/carissima
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry's a popstar, Liam's a fireman. When Louis' dreaded hipsters set fire to Harry's house, Liam comes to the rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stone On Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt: Famous!Harry & fireman!Liam where maybe Harry's house catches fire or idk his kitten gets stuck in a tree or something and Liam has to save his sexy ass. Later it makes like headlines that Harry met his knight in shining armor or something of the sort? Basically fireman!Liam saving famous!Harry. 
> 
> Hope this is something close to what you wanted?
> 
> So in this universe, Harry was a soloist on X Factor and Louis, Niall and Zayn are One Direction. Just go with it, mkay? Thanks, much appreciated! 
> 
> P.S. Come find me on [Tumblr!](http://carissimali.tumblr.com/)

"Do you even know half these people?" Louis yells at Harry, waving his hands in the direction of the crowd that surrounds them.

Harry shrugs as he takes a look. He thinks maybe he remembers seeing that one guy at Fashion Week, and maybe that girl looks familiar, possibly from Radio 1?

"Not really." Harry's eyes are a little glassy from the beers he's been sinking but he's having too much fun to care. "It's a party Lou, enjoy yourself."

"I'd enjoy myself just fine if all your hangers on didn't keep inviting all their fucking hipster friends to drink all your booze and trash your house before heading off to some hipster bar, leaving us here to clean up their hipster mess," Louis mutters as he glares at some guy passing through whose clothes and hair and whole demeanour just happens to scream HIPSTER.

"It's my house, Lou," Harry gently reminds him before he's swept away into the crowd, leaving Louis to grumble loudly to himself before he spots Niall and makes a run for him, leaping up and clinging tightly.

"Niall, it's not safe out there," Louis cries dramatically. "Save me from the hipsters! They're out of control!"

Niall just laughs as he pats Louis' legs where they're wrapped around his waist and continues his conversation with the pretty girl with long blonde hair and green eyes who just happens to love the Irish accent.

When Louis gets bored of trying to distract Niall from his pretty girl, he heads outside where he knows Zayn will be, sucking on a cigarette.

He's sitting on the step, staring out into the cold night when Louis finds him.

"Alright mate?" Louis greets him as he gently shoves Zayn to one side to make room for him.

"Alright," Zayn echoes quietly.

"Why do we come to these pointless hipster parties?" Louis asks, leaning his head against Zayn's shoulder and sighing loudly. Just to get his point across, of course.

"Because Harry invites us," Zayn says simply. "And we love Harry."

"Well I don't love his stupid friends," Louis says petulantly. "They're all idiots. I hate them all."

"Yeah," Zayn says amusedly before taking another long drag. "I get that."

"Why can't Harry meet nice, normal, non-hipster people and be friends with them?" Louis continues, warming to his theme. "Like, doctors and teachers? They're normal, right? They keep normal work hours and they're grounded in reality and stuff, right?"

Zayn gives him a pitying look. "Louis, Harry is a popstar. He doesn't keep normal work hours. He's not grounded in reality. None of us are."

"Harry's never been grounded in reality," Louis admits, stealing Zayn's cigarette and taking a quick puff before giving it back. "Which is why he needs it."

"Lou, the sooner you accept that Harry likes these people, that he wants to surround himself with them, the happier you'll both be," Zayn says although the tone of his voice suggests that he knows Louis won't listen.

"Yeah, that's probably not going to happen," Louis says thoughtfully. "I'll wear him down one day, you'll see."

They sit in peaceful silence, only disturbed by three people neither of them know stepping carefully over them before lighting up while leaning against Harry's house.

Louis just rolls his eyes and Zayn figures it's the best Louis can do so really he's very grateful. Louis manages to keep quiet for their entire smoke break, only muttering when he sees them flicking their cigarettes against the wall before heading back inside.

"Idiots," Louis mutters as he closes his eyes. "Honestly Zayn, what the hell does he see in them?"

"Dunno," Zayn answers. "What does he see in us?"

"We are his closest, most delightful and loyal friends," Louis says huffily. He glares at Zayn for even voicing the question.

"You can't hate every friend Harry's mad since he's been famous," Zayn points out reasonably.

"I can so," Louis says sulkily. "Everyone he's met since the X Factor has just wanted to hang out with Harry because he's famous and popular and so cute with his dimples."

"Not everyone," Zayn tries to be diplomatic, even though he's knows it's a losing battle with Louis. "Besides, we all met him on the X Factor."

"We were best mates before it even aired on TV, that doesn't count, _Zayn_ ," Louis says with a verbal eye roll. "We bonded before we even started live shows. Shut up."

Zayn rubs the back of his neck tiredly before he looks away from Louis to glance to his left where something flickering has been drawing his gaze.

He jumps up, causing Louis to yelp in surprise as he looks around for something to put out the fire that's spreading quickly.

"Fuck! HEY! FIRE!" Louis yells as he runs inside and tries to find something to put it out with. Not finding anything, he grabs Harry's house phone and dials 999, giving Harry's address quickly to the operator before hanging up and yelling throughout the house.

The house clears in minutes, screams and yells echoing throughout the rooms until Harry's left standing by the road, Louis on one side, Niall and Zayn on the other, all looking worried as they see flames dancing through the windows.

"Everything I own is in that house," Harry whispers.

Niall grabs his hand and squeezes.

"I hear sirens," Zayn murmurs as he glances down the road. "They're almost here."

The fire engine squeals to a stop outside and firemen descend around them, a hose quickly unwound and heading through Harry's door.

Harry's eyes are fixated on the flames he can see, finally breathing easier when the orange glow disappears.

"It can't have done too much damage," Niall says reassuringly. "It was outside, yeah?"

"Yeah, it definitely started outside," Zayn agrees. "It'll be okay, Harry."

It takes a few minutes but eventually the firemen start moving out of the house and securing the area to make sure the flames and smoke have been contained.

Harry glances up as one of them approaches.

"Hey, one of you live here?" he asks.

Harry sighs before he looks into startlingly beautiful brown eyes, mostly hidden in a smoke-smudged face. The fireman has taken his hat off and is running his fingers through his hair tiredly.

"Oh, me," Harry finally says when Louis nudges him and he realises he's been staring. "It's my house."

"Okay," the fireman smiles wearily at him. "We've contained the fire. The damage isn't too bad, but the smoke has caused some cosmetic damage in the hallway to the outside door. The wall will need reinforcement. Aside from that, you've been very lucky."

"What caused it?" Harry asks, moving in closer to the fireman.

"By the looks of it, you were throwing a pretty big party," the fireman says, raising his eyebrow in question. Harry nods sheepishly, biting his lip. "I reckon one of your partygoers threw a cigarette towards your bins. Something caught alight and it fed into itself."

"Fucking hipsters," Harry hears Louis muttering next to him.

"Not helpful Lou," Harry says through his teeth before turning back to the nice fireman. "Well, thank you, you've absolutely saved my life. Everything I own is in that house."

"Just part of the job," the fireman says with a wry smile. "We'll get cleared up and out of your way as soon as possible."

He quickly disappears inside while Harry sags against Louis.

"Well, it could have been worse," Louis says with a bright smile. "At least you got a fit fireman to rescue your life and belongings."

Harry's eyes were watching the fireman as he headed through the house. "Yeah. Really fit."

"Please don't try and flirt with the nice fireman, Harry," Niall says with a laugh. "There are rules, you know."

"Never heard of them," Harry says with a beaming grin. "Anyway, I didn't flirt with him. He was just nice, that's all."

"Nice looking," Zayn mutters and grins as Harry just throws him an arched look.

They wait patiently until the firemen come trooping out and climb back onto the fire engine.

The fireman from before waves Harry closer to the front door. Harry glances at Zayn, who's grinning inanely at him, before walking towards him, where he's led through the house and out to the back garden.

"Here's where it started." The fireman gestures to Harry's bins. "You can see where it's damaged the wall, but it could have been much worse."

"Man, thank you so much," Harry says fervently as he stares at the damage and realises how lucky he's been. How lucky they've all been. "This could have burnt everything."

"Maybe try and be a bit more attentive when throwing your next party, yeah?" the fireman says with a grin and Harry watches in delight as his eyes crinkle and his face lights up. His eyes look especially sparkly through the dirt smeared across his face.

"Trust me, there'll be no more parties here," Harry says firmly before laughing lightly. "My neighbours will be so pleased."

"Yeah, I can imagine," the fireman teases and Harry can't help but grin back at him.

"Hey, what's your name?" Harry asks as they head back through the house.

"Liam," he says over his shoulder. "Liam Payne."

"Well, Liam Payne," Harry says as they pause by the front door and he steadfastly ignores his nosy friends, "you were amazing. Thank you."

"No problem," Liam says with a small shrug of his broad shoulders. "Just be a bit more careful in future yeah?"

He waves goodbye to Harry and the boys before he climbs aboard the fire truck and they head off. Harry watches until they disappear out of view.

"You get his name?" Louis asks as he slings an arm around Harry's shoulder.

"Liam Payne," Harry murmurs with a reluctant smile.

"He know who you are?" Niall asks as they head back inside.

"He didn't let on if he did," Harry says with a shrug. "I don't know."

"Seemed like a nice lad," Louis insists, catching Zayn's eye and wriggling his eyebrows. "Nice and normal. _Grounded_ , you might say, even."

"Yeah, I suppose," Harry agrees distractedly before he looks back at them. "Can I stay with one of you guys tonight?"

"Everyone can crash at mine," Niall says, slinging an arm around Zayn. "It'll be like the old days on X Factor."

"Fine, but if Harry gets naked and runs around the house, I'm leaving," Zayn says firmly.

Harry laughs as he sneaks out a hand to tickle Zayn, who just moves away with a frown, but Harry can see the twinkle in his eyes.

***

It takes a week, but Harry's house is finally back in order and he moves back in, after crashing alternatively with Louis (who kicks him out for being untidy), Niall (who kicks him out for being too loud after midnight) and Zayn (who, predictably, kicks him out for lack of clothing).

As Louis drops him off, he winds down the window. "Hey Harry, you should look up that fireman, thank him properly. He was nice. I liked him. _Very grounded!!_ "

Then he's gone, leaving a bemused Harry to slowly unlock his front door and step inside.

The smell of fresh paint hits him and he moves to open all his windows to air the rooms out. He steps outside and sees the freshly reinforced wall and he winces. Perhaps Louis is right, he thinks resignedly. Perhaps he's surrounding himself with the wrong type of people.

Except he likes his friends. He likes all of them. He likes _people_.

His mind unconsciously conjures up the image of Fireman Liam, as he's taken to calling him over the past week. Harry's thought about him more times than he really should have and at odd moments when he really should have been paying attention in meetings or in interviews.

It's just a crush, is all. One of those falling for your knight-in-shining-armour deals. Harry's sure he'll get over it soon enough. It's not like he could even really see Liam's face, covered as it was in soot and dirt, and really their conversation was completely impersonal. There was absolutely no reason in the world that Harry should be thinking about Liam.

Yet he was. Frequently.

He groans loudly and frustrated as he makes up his mind. Grabbing his keys, Harry strolls out of his house and climbs into his car.

Five minutes later, he's pulling into the fire station, trying desperately not to regret what he's about to do. He disembarks and heads for the main office.

"Hi, how can I help?" The receptionist glances up and does a double take. But to her credit, she merely flushes and holds his gaze, and that's the only sign she gives that she knows who Harry is.

"Uh, hi," Harry says with a bright smile. "I'm looking for Liam. Is he around?"

"Liam?" the woman blinks twice before nodding slowly. "Yeah. He's round back. I'll just go get him."

She practically runs out of the office, which Harry thinks is really very impressive in the heels she's wearing. He hums idly, looking around the office and grinning as he sees a charity calendar of the station's firemen.

He wonders what month Liam is and whether he can convince the receptionist to sell him one.

"Hello?"

Harry spins around. His eyes widen as he realises that Liam Payne is fucking gorgeous. He'd had his suspicions that under all that soot was a very attractive man but he wasn't quite expecting the dark-haired, brown-eyed god that was staring at him expectantly.

Judging by the tight pull of his shirt, Harry's got a pretty good idea of just how muscular Liam Payne really is, and his need to get his hands on one of those calendars has just shot up.

"Hey," Harry says a little gruffly with a smile, forcing himself to maintain eye contact with Liam and not let his gaze drift down to his broad shoulders or his narrow hips or ... right, maintain eye contact. "You might not remember, but you put out a fire at my house last week."

Liam grins like he's amused. "Yeah, I vaguely remember putting out a fire for a famous popstar."

"Oh," Harry's surprised, although he really shouldn't be. "So you know who I am?"

"Yes, I know who you are," Liam says, smiling gently. "Except I'm the only one who has actually introduced myself."

"Harry Styles," Harry says immediately, holding out his hand. When Liam's hand closes over his and shakes it, Harry tries not to concentrate on how firm Liam's grip is or how nice his hand feels, all hard, rough skin. Completely different to most hands that he comes across in his line of work. "I just wanted to come by and thank you again."

"It's nice to meet you properly, Harry," Liam says and his smile lights up his face, just as Harry remembers. "But really, it's just my job."

"Well, at least let me buy you a drink to say thank you," Harry offers with one of his brightest smiles as he sincerely hopes Liam doesn't see through his flimsy excuse to just spend more time with him.

"You really don't have to," Liam protests lightly but Harry thinks that he might be tempted.

"I'm going out with the lads tonight," Harry wheedles shamelessly. "You should come along, make sure we're safe and you know, don't set ourselves on fire."

"Is that something that happens on an average night out?" Liam asks with a grin. "Because that's a worry."

"You honestly never know with Louis," Harry mutters with a grim smile. "And Zayn smokes. He's a danger anytime he lights up."

"So when you said you were going out with the lads tonight, you meant you're going out with One Direction?" Liam asks, eyebrows raised and humour dancing in his eyes.

"Yeah, the lads," Harry shrugs, unconcerned. "Louis liked you. Thought you were grounded."

"Oh, well I guess that's true," Liam says, a little confused.

"So come on out with us tonight," Harry pleads with a smile, reaching out to rest his hand on Liam's forearm. "It'll be fun."

"Harry Styles and One Direction want me to go out with them tonight," Liam repeats, almost to himself. "Because I'm ... grounded?"

"Basically, but there are other reasons," Harry grins. He grabs a piece of paper and scribbles his number down before pressing it into Liam's hands. "Text me your address and I'll pick you up. About 8, yeah?"

"Sounds good," Liam says faintly.

***

Harry had resorted to begging, pleading and plain old blackmail to get Louis, Zayn and Niall to come out with him tonight. He'd arranged to meet them in a quiet bar on their side of town and he was on his way to pick up Liam. As fate would have it, he only lived a couple of streets away so Harry walked, keeping his head down to avoid catching anyone's eye.

When he stops at Liam's front door, he takes a steadying breath before ringing the doorbell.

"Hey, I'm almost ready," Liam says a little breathlessly as he opens the door. Harry's feeling a little breathless himself because Liam's in tight, dark blue jeans and a tight black t-shirt that does wonders for his arms and painful things to Harry's chest. And he doesn't even want to talk about the boots Liam's wearing. Jesus.

He disappears for thirty seconds before reappearing with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, there was a last minute callout at the station. I only got home ten minutes ago."

"You are so not like anyone else I know," Harry says with bemused shake of his head, stepping outside and waiting for Liam to lock up.

"What do you mean?" Liam asks as he falls into step with Harry.

Harry tucks his arm into Liam's as they stroll together. He ignores the look Liam gives him and just tugs him along. "Well, for a start no one else I know can get ready in ten minutes. They're all so vain. Plus there's always the risk of paps turning up, so everyone has to be camera ready at every moment."

"That sounds exhausting," Liam says slowly, glancing across at Harry. "What about you?"

"I'm as vain as the next popstar," Harry says with a teasing smile. But he lets the smile drop slightly as he sighs. "But mostly I don't give a shit. So yes, I can be ready in ten minutes if I absolutely need to be. My main problem isn't vanity, it's speed. I'm just too laidback to do anything in a hurry."

"I'm sure you could move quickly if you needed to," Liam says and Harry glances sharply up at him but Liam's face seems fairly innocent.

Harry just hums in vague agreement as he pulls Liam into the bar, spots the boys at a table near the back, as usual, and heads straight for them.

"Boys, you remember Fireman Liam, right?" Harry greets them all with hugs as if he hasn't seen them in months, rather than a few hours. He pushes Liam gently towards the seat next to Louis and does a quick scout of the table. "Same again Niall? Liam, what do you want?"

"Oh, whatever everyone else is having is fine," Liam says politely.

Of course it is, Harry thinks to himself as he disappears to the bar. By the time he makes it back, balancing three pints, Louis has engaged Liam in a conversation about the dangers of hipsters and smoking.

Well, Harry re-evaluates as he takes a seat next to Liam and passes him a pint with an apologetic look, Louis is talking _at_ Liam about hipsters and smoking.

"I really don't think it matters who's doing the actually smoking," Liam says when Louis finally takes a breath. "It's more about the lit cigarette landing on something flammable."

Louis huffs loudly, looking at Liam crossly.

"Let it go, Lou," Harry advises, leaning over Liam to pull a cross-eyed face at him. And if his hand rests on Liam's arm for balance, that's not really Harry's fault, per se. He moves back, tugs on Liam's arm to get his attention and leans forward to speak softly. "He hates my friends."

"The hipsters?" Liam asks and grins as Harry sadly nods. "Any particular reason?"

"He mostly hates anyone I'm friends with," Harry says slowly, squeezing Liam's arm gently. "Louis is convinced that they're all using me for fame or money or something."

Liam cocks his head slightly and leans into Harry. "You look old enough to choose your own friends to me."

"Exactly," Harry beams at him. He watches Liam blink slowly and a warm feeling seeps through him. "Louis thinks I'm too naive."

"Do you believe everything you hear?" Liam asks.

"Not everything," Harry says cheerfully. "But probably more than I should."

"I'll keep it in mind," Liam says with a smile that Harry thinks should probably be illegal. And this time he was _definitely_ flirting.

For the rest of the evening, Harry inches closer to Liam while they all drink and laugh at each other. Harry's mostly amused by how easily Liam fits in, and how unimpressed he seems to be with their fame. He's listened to Liam chatting to Zayn about comics, watched Liam deflect Louis' attempts to twist his nipples (honestly, he really does have no boundaries) and he's currently watching Liam and Niall fall a little bit in love with each other over shared music bands and gigs they've been to.

He really, really likes Liam. Likes him in the way you do when you're a kid and you want someone to be your boyfriend so badly that you do silly things to get their attention. He's five seconds away from grabbing Zayn's lighter to set something on fire if Liam doesn't turn back towards him when Niall catches his eye and grins. Harry figures he must be radiating something crazy or reckless because Niall gets up and drags Zayn and Louis off for a cigarette break. And two of the trio don't smoke.

"Hey," Harry says as Liam turns towards him. "Having fun?"

"Yeah," Liam nods. "I like your friends."

"Even Louis?" Harry asks, just to make sure. You can never tell how first impressions land with Louis.

"Especially Louis," Liam teases him.

"Careful," Harry warns, although he keeps his voice light. "I'll get jealous."

Liam laughs lightly but his gaze is intent on Harry. He takes a chance, slides his hand over the table to rest on Liam's thigh. When Liam just continues to smile at him, Harry lets his fingertips slide up and down slightly across his jeans and he feels Liam shudder.

"Harry," Liam says and his voice is a little huskier, a little rougher.

Harry hums as he looks up at Liam through his eyelashes.

"I think you should walk me home, Fireman Liam," Harry says in a low voice.

Liam says nothing, just gets to his feet and holds out his hand for Harry to grab onto as he pulls him up. They walk out of the bar hand-in-hand, calling out their goodbyes to the boys before strolling home through the darkened streets.

"It's nice that you're all still friends," Liam says and it's the first time he's really referred to their fame. "Like, real friends."

"Yeah," Harry agrees, moving a little closer, lets go of Liam's hand to slip his hand under Liam's jacket and around his waist because it's cold and Liam radiates heat like a furnace. "We just kind of clicked from the start."

"Do you ever wish you were in the band?" Liam asks.

Harry pauses, forcing Liam to stop in the street. Harry looks up at him, frowning and Liam's eyes widen a little. "Oh. Uh, did I say the wrong thing?"

"No," Harry says slowly. "It's just that no one's ever asked me that before."

"Oh, well," Liam's not sure how to answer that so he doesn't. But he thinks Harry's considering an answer so he doesn't move.

"Yeah, I do," he says finally, a little smile playing on his lips. "It'd be fun to go on tour together. Not so lonely, you know? And the pressure wouldn't be all on me, like it is when I go on stage and every single person is just looking at you."

"Demanding," Liam murmurs and Harry nods before tugging Liam on.

"Let's not talk about them," Harry says and he's back to demanding all of Liam's attention. "Tell me about you. How did you become a fireman?"

"Uh, the usual way," Liam says, confused. "You have to pass lectures and physical training and stuff."

"No," Harry laughs, squeezing closer. "I mean, why did you want to become a fireman?"

"Oh," Liam says, flushing. "Uh, I guess I just liked the idea of saving people."

"Fuck," Harry swears under his breath. Off Liam's raised eyebrows, he sighs. "Liam, I didn't think people like you still existed. You're just really, really decent, you know?"

"It's just a j-"

Harry cuts him off. "You keep saying it's just your job, but it's not, it's more than that. It's your choice to risk your life every day. It's important, Liam. Don't say it's just your job. It's _you_."

Liam doesn't say anything to that and they walk in silence until they reach Harry's front door.

"Looks a little better than the last time I saw it," Liam says quietly. He stares up at the building, unmoving.

Harry just waits patiently. Silently.

When Liam's gaze finally drops to Harry, he smiles carefully. "You know I said I liked saving people?"

When Harry nods, Liam continues, "I got the impression that Louis thinks you need saving from your hipster friends. His description, not mine."

"Yeah?"

"He kept repeating the words grounded and normal to me tonight," Liam continues and his gaze drops down to Harry's mouth. Harry very deliberately licks his own lips, wetting them carefully. "I think he wants me to save you from either yourself or the whole hipster community at large, I wasn't quite clear on that."

"You did do a really good job of saving me last time," Harry says thoughtfully, before ruining it with a blinding smile.

Liam lifts his hands slowly and settles them on Harry's waist, as if he's waiting for Harry to stop him or to move back. Harry has no intention of doing either of those things. What he actually does is lifts his own arms to lazily wrap around Liam's neck, pulling himself into Liam's body and sighing happily as he feels the sheer solid essence of Liam against him. Like Liam could shelter him from anything and everything.

God, he really needs to get hold of one of those calendars.

"Do you need saving, Harry?" Liam murmurs and his lips are somehow mere inches away from Harry's. Liam's eyes are shining and Harry can feel some kind of buzzing now that Liam's this close.

He nods once, jerkily, before Liam's lips close over his.

He barely has a moment, just one split-second moment, to enjoy the kiss, to feel it all the way down to his toes, before a blinding flash hits them.

Liam jumps back, startled, while Harry just sighs and rubs his eyes, pushing his hair back as he looks up at the pap, grinning at them from the pavement.

"Hey boys," he calls. "One more for the morning cycle?"

Another blinding flash hits them before the pap strolls off, yelling his thanks as he goes.

Harry looks up, sees Liam looking shocked and dazed.

He's about to reach over to him, apologise or explain, since this happens to him far too often and he's become immune to the whole routine, when he sees Liam backing away.

"Uh, I've got to - uh, I'll see you later, yeah?"

Liam's gone before Harry can whisper a goodbye.

***

It takes exactly one week before Louis gets fed up with Harry's moping.

"Just call him, apologise for the shitty aspects of your life in the public eye and the intrusions you have to put up with and kiss him properly, yeah?" Louis says as if he's suggesting the simplest thing in the world.

Harry just glares at him, not even bothering to come up with a response.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Louis asks, reaching out to ruffle Harry's hair.

"He can slam the phone down on me," Harry starts listing the possibilities because he's thought about this a lot. "He could scream at me. He could tell me he never wants to see me again. He could yell because there are pictures of us kissing all over the internet and that's entirely my fault."

"Liam's the grounded type, remember?" Louis points out fairly reasonably. "He won't do any of those things. He's probably just a bit embarrassed and trying to figure out how to date a popstar or something."

"Or he's going to strangle me with his bare hands because we barely had a moment together before his picture was splashed all over the internet, declaring him to be my boyfriend who apparently I've cheated on twice in the past week and fuck Louis, that picture from the calendar. It's everywhere."

"It's a great picture," Louis mumbles although he holds up his hands as if to say he knows that's not the most helpful thing to say right now.

"Yeah, it's an awesome picture," Harry mutters in agreement. Liam's stripped to the waist, leaning against a fire truck and Harry nearly cried when he saw it because Liam looked so good and he wanted to run his hands all over that incredible body. But he can't. "He probably didn't want it printed on page six of every paper in the UK and on every gossip site."

"Well, you won't know unless you speak to him," Louis says and Harry can tell by the look in his eye that it's the last thing he's going to say on the subject and Harry needs to just sort it, one way or another.

He spends most of the rest of the day staring at his phone. Liam hasn't texted or called all week, while Harry's typed out a thousand text messages for Liam and sent exactly none of them.

It's just that he really likes Liam, and he's scared that Liam doesn't feel the same. Or even if he did like Harry, perhaps Liam thinks that Harry's not worth the hassle that he comes with.

Taking a deep breath, he types out a text message and presses send before he can talk himself out of it.

**At least I got to see your calendar photo. Really sorry the rest of the world saw it as well .xx**

He waits but his phone remains silent. Until Louis texts him and Harry almost whimpers in disappointment. By the time he's received eight texts, none from Liam, he's trained himself to accept that Liam isn't going to reply.

**Don't b sorry. Weve had 2 order more bcoz of a rush of sales. The charity is thriled. Liam x**

Harry stares at the text, trying to figure out if there are any hidden messages in the text.

When his phone vibrates again, he nearly drops it in surprise.

**Did u like it? You nevr said ... Liam x**

Harry's eyes widen.

**Are you home? .xx**

**Yeah, come round? Liam x**

**On my way .xx**

Harry's never moved so fast in his life. Truthfully, when he'd told Liam that he could be ready in 10 minutes, he wasn't sure if that was true or not. As he shoves his hair into place once more before running out of the house, he gives himself a mental high-five because he can now boast that he can get ready in under four minutes.

And as he knocks on Liam's front door, he also notes that he can get to Liam's house in under six minutes. All good information he have, he reckons.

Liam opens the door, looking rumpled and delicious in sweats and a t-shirt.

"Sorry, I only got up about 20 minutes ago and I'm a bit shattered," Liam says sheepishly, his hands moving towards the hem of his top before moving away again.

Harry's spellbound.

"Um, you want to come in?" Liam says eventually.

Harry nods and follows Liam into his lounge. It looks comfortable, if a bit sparse.

"I'd offer to go since you look tired but I really don't want to," Harry blurts out, wringing his hands together behind his back and offering Liam a small smile.

Liam's eyes widen and he shoves his hand through his unkempt hair. "I wouldn't have invited you round if I didn't want you here," he says finally.

"I guess the better question is why you want me here at all," Harry says, tilting his head and watching Liam intently. He watches Liam's gaze drop and he sighs. "My life is crazy, Liam. We've met a grand total of three times, and so far you've rescued my house from a house party fire and your life has been splashed across the papers and the internet. I wouldn't blame you if you never wanted to see me ever again."

"Four times," is all Liam says.

Harry can't stop the smile from spreading across his face. "Sorry, you're right. Four times."

"Four pretty great times," Liam says thoughtfully. "The first time, I got to see your house. It's nice."

"It looks better now," Harry says, his grin so wide it makes his face ache a little. "You should come over and see it in its full glory."

"The second time we met, you asked me out," Liam continues, his own smile broadening, even though he seems to be trying not to. "Cute guy comes to my workplace to ask me out. Nothing bad about that."

Harry flushes. "It was the first time I got to see your face properly. It's a nice face."

"Thanks," Liam nods solemnly but Harry can see his eyes dancing. He moves a little closer. "Then there was the third time, when you picked me up at my door like an old-fashioned date. Took me to meet your mates, who are all really nice and normal. Then you let me walk you home and kiss you."

"Before we were rudely interrupted," Harry mutters but he steps closer again.

"And I didn't text you all week because I was embarrassed about running away and being a bit of coward. Now you're here, in my house," Liam says quietly, taking a step forward himself this time so that they're in each other's personal space.

"So you don't hate me then," Harry says, absolutely and ridiculously delighted.

"I figured that you probably get it a thousand times worse than I've had this week, and I realised how terrible that would be," Liam says, reaching up to tuck a curl behind Harry's ear, letting his hand bury into his hair. "And lonely."

Harry shrugs. "It's not the best part of my job. But it's a lot to handle, you know, for anyone who might like to, uh, date me."

"Date you?" Liam repeats, his eyes lighting up and his lips lifting into a smile. "Hmm. I guess it would be a lot. I guess they'd need something pretty special to make up for the inconvenience."

"Like what?" Harry breathes as Liam moves forward, pausing just inches away from his lips.

"Probably lots of kisses. And cuddles. I like cuddles," Liam whispers, keeping his eyes fixed on Harry. "Probably some home cooking, because I'm rubbish at it and I'm dying on microwave meals."

"I like cooking, I'm pretty good at it," Harry practically whimpers as he reaches out to grab hold of Liam's biceps, pulling slightly so that Liam's arms move towards him and his hands end up gripping Harry's hips. "And kisses and cuddles. I'm really, really good at those."

"Isn't that a lucky coincidence?" Liam murmurs with a teasing smile.

"And that'll make up for the complete intrusion of privacy, the inability to go anywhere without the possibility of being mobbed or having fans take pictures or ask for autographs?" Harry asks, wanting to make it absolutely clear to Liam what he's opening himself up to.

"I guess that depends on how good your kisses are."

Harry's hands tighten on Liam's arms and he moves in close, pressing his lips against Liam's. He deepens the kiss, unable to stop himself, licking into Liam's mouth and sighing blissfully as their tongues slide against each other.

When he finally pulls back, breathless and a bit dazed, Harry's dimples flash as he sees the same look in Liam's eyes.

"Yeah, that'll make up for a lot," Liam mutters as he yanks Harry back into his arms and pulls him back onto the sofa, settling Harry in his lap before he snogs him frantically.

When they're both hot and hard and breathless, Harry pulls back and lets his forehead rest against Liam's. He runs his hands up and down Liam's chest, partly to soothe Liam and partly because he's been dying to get his hands on Liam's body since he saw that damn calendar.

"You know, you never told me what you thought about the calendar." Liam reaches up to stroke Harry's face, his expression softening as Harry closes his eyes and leans into his hand.

"Oh, I think it's brilliant," Harry says solemnly. "Very artistic."

"Artistic?" Liam repeats, doubt in his voice.

"Very artistic," Harry opens his eyes and nods his head firmly in agreement with himself. "Now, how many dinners and kisses and cuddles do I need to give in exchange for getting you out of that t-shirt so I can see your beautiful chest? That calendar's been driving me mad all week."

"So you only like me for my body?" Liam teases, grinning as Harry shrugs before winking at him. "I guess you could probably give me an IOU. Your credit seems pretty good to me."

"Oh thank fuck for that," Harry mutters to himself as he reaches down to grab the hem of Liam's shirt and tugs it over his head, throwing it on the floor behind him distractedly as he stares at Liam's chest. "Jesus, Liam."

Liam flushes but doesn't cover himself up, and in fact preens a little as Harry stares at him open-mouthed.

Harry whimpers before he dives down to suck a hickey onto Liam's chest, letting his hands roam freely over his taut skin.

Liam lets out his own whimper as Harry fidgets in his lap, grinding down against him.

Liam wraps his hands around Harry's waist and hauls him up, ignoring Harry's cries of protest as he stands up and heaves Harry up and over his shoulder before heading for the stairs. He swats Harry's ass teasingly as he scampers up the stairs quickly.

"Oh god, you're freakishly strong, Liam Payne and that's so hot," Liam hears Harry mumble gleefully as he deposits Harry on the bed. Liam just grins happily before diving in after him, laughing as Harry wraps himself around him. "Can we have sex in a fire truck? Can you do a sexy striptease on that pole you all slide down? How do you feel about naked fireman lifts? How long do you think you could hold me up for?"

Liam shuts out Harry's questions, interesting as they are for future consideration, and focuses on shutting him up so Harry can do other things with his pretty mouth.


End file.
